A/N: A slight reassessment of Jaune's mindset up to this point in regard to his sisters making decisions for him, courtesy of a discussion in my Discord. Hint hint. discord dot gg slash ABfg74C
Marathonian
Is this my fault? I wondered incongruously as the airship plummeted. Should I have put my foot down about flying to Mistral instead of home? I had gone along with it because I wanted to see more of Remnant and my family here; the same reason I went along with flying to Atlas with only a day's notice. My sisters' pushiness sometimes rubbed me the wrong way, but I swallowed it for the sake of diplomacy.
Screams rang out, and I gripped the arms of my seat, bracing as best I could. I guess this would have happened on any flight I took, I reflected. It happened when we reached CCT range. And in fact, we would still have been over the ocean when we came into range of Vale's Tower flying from Atlas, so this is probably the best case scenario.
The crash knocked out about two-thirds of my HP. And this, ladies and gents, is why you wear your fucking seatbelt, I thought, shaking my head to clear it. The cries and sobs around me made it clear that there were plenty more survivors, so rather than continue to sit there, I took a deep breath and hit the release, forcing myself upright. Wish I had potions in this game.
Looking around, I grimaced. Not everyone was moving. The flight attendants, who had been standing up, were in the worst shape: a couple of them were clearly dead, but [Observe] showed I might be able to heal some of them. Hello again, [Gamer's Mind]. I did not miss relying on you.
Since nobody was paying attention, I equipped my Hunting armor set, popped [Eagle's Splendor] for a single minute, and shouted at the top of my lungs, "STAY CALM, I'M A HUNTSMAN!"
[Deception successful! Acting has increased by 1! Acting has increased by 1! Acting has increased by 1! Acting has increased by 1!]
[By careful poise and word choice, you have convinced someone to go along with your idea! Your CHA has increased by 1! Your CHA has increased by 1!]
Silence fell surprisingly fast, screams fading into whimpers as people instinctively listened to the voice of authority. Wow, all right, that went better than expected. Now they're all watching me, so let's try not to fuck it up.
"Please stay in your seats if possible!" I called out, stepping into the aisle and moving over to the nearest flight attendant that was still breathing. "I have a healing Semblance, and we are in range of the Mistral CCT! Help is already on the way!"
At least I fuckin' hope it is. Doing a quick scan of the people I could see, and finding nobody more injured, I triggered [Lay On Hands] and kept an eye on the stewardess' status to see when she was stabilized and I could move on. Unfortunately, my projected confidence is only gonna go so far; I'll have to triage and prioritize killing any approaching Grimm. In the meantime…
With the hand I wasn't using to heal, I prompted the interface to send a text to the sister I knew was closest, subvocalizing as much information as I could quickly.
DM: Paladin -› Thunderstruck | Saturday 15:43
‹Paladin› mayday plane down sabotage cct north edge send help north sea mons
‹Thunderstruck› fuck. this better not be a joke.
Do I sound like I'm fucking joking!?
‹Paladin› mayday mayday mayday flight 1387 down i'm healing injured crew passengers scared send help asap
‹Thunderstruck› okay, fuck, i hope you have time to read this. you're still in training but odds are you're the only huntsman on the flight so you need to step up and keep people from panicking. have everyone stay in one place so you can look after them. if any grimm show up, cut them down and make it look easy. keep your game face on no matter what.
Tell me something I don't know, I bitched internally, leaving the unconscious flight attendant and moving over to a middle-aged man with a head injury.
[Lay On Hands has increased by 1!]
"Hey, come on, can't you heal me first?"
Taking a deep breath, I kept my face blank as I looked up at the speaker; a slightly younger man with an Atlas accent whose expensive clothes were being steadily ruined by the blood from his split lip and busted nose.
"You're conscious, he's not," I said curtly. "Given time, I can heal everyone, but I do have to prioritize worse injuries. Please be patient."
"But you're prioritizing an animal when–"
That was as far as he got before quailing under my glare. "You're well enough to whine, so I'll get to you when people aren't about to die," I hissed. "Sit down and stop wasting my time."
[Intimidation successful! CHA has increased by 1!]
DM: Thunderstruck -› Paladin | Saturday 15:46
‹Thunderstruck› okay, rescue teams are scrambled. eta 15 minutes.
Finally some good fucking news, I thought. My Semblance very helpfully put a fifteen minute timer in the corner of my vision. Neat.
‹Thunderstruck› i'm going ahead of them.
‹Thunderstruck› you'd fucking better stay alive.
Not bothering with a reply, I closed the interface and moved onto the next person [Observe] told me was savable.
[Lay On Hands has increased by 1!]
The passengers, who had quieted down when I tore into the Atlesian bigot, began to murmur again. My mana was nearing full, so I burned another minute of [Eagle's Splendor] andspoke up. "Does anybody on board have Hunter training?"
[Eagle's Splendor has increased by 1!]
There were a few murmurs in the negative.
"Former military?" I tried. "Reserves?"
No response.
"Village sheriff?"
Silence.
"Anybody shot a pistol before?"
"I attend a shooting club." It was the woman seated next to the faunus man I'd healed. She looked about fifty, but her hand was steady when she raised it to indicate herself.
Keeping my left hand on the six-year-old I was currently healing, I unclipped my pistol and held it out, butt-first. "Thirteen in the clip. Pipe's empty, safety's on."
"It's a bit bigger than I'm used to," she murmured, checking it carefully and keeping the barrel pointed at the floor.
"Not the first time I've heard that," I quipped. "I'm sure you can handle it."
Nervous giggles filled the cabin, and some of the tension in the plane drained away.
[By reducing the negative emotions of your surroundings with your words, CHA has increased by 1!]
Cool, so all I needed to start the stats flowing was another crisis situation. Goody.
"Not the first time I've heard that," the woman echoed. "Russet, come with me and help keep a lookout," she told the teenager beside her.
"But dad is–"
"As well as he can be right now," his mother spoke over him calmly. "We need to make sure he and everyone else stays that way. Come on, now."
"I assume I don't need to ask about a sword?" I asked the rest of the passengers, getting general dissent once more. "Okay, that's fine. Show of hands, who's well enough to help stand watch?" I was honestly expecting no response again, but I actually did get some volunteers this time. "Awesome; all you have to do is keep your eyes peeled. Buddy up, nobody goes off alone. If you spot Grimm, stay calm and come let me know."
There were a few nods, and those volunteers nervously made their way out of the plane. Probably wouldn't have volunteered if the old lady hadn't gone out first.
Wiping my hands on my jeans as I wrapped up the current healing job, I called out next, "Somebody up front, are the pilots alive?"
[Lay On Hands has increased by 1!]
"I, um, I don't think so." I couldn't see the speaker, even when I stood up to get the lady halfway up the with a neck injury and the nerve-wracking status effect Paralyzed. "The door's a little open and there's… there's a lot of blood…"
"I'll check on them in a minute," I promised. Fortunately, I wasn't lying — civilians only tended to have, at most, 150 or so HP, so I could reliably heal ten percent of their maximum or more with just one minute of [Lay On Hands]. I wasn't bringing any of them to full, but everyone who survived the crash should make it to evac."Next question, anybody else with first-aid training?"
"I'm a registered nurse." It was actually the lady I was healing who spoke.
I glanced at her Status, but she was still Paralyzed. "Let me check on the pilots, and I'll come back and finish healing you," I promised. "You'll be in charge of first aid."
She tried to nod, but flinched, and whispered, "Okay."
[Lay On Hands has increased by 1!]
I stood up. "If you're injured but can walk, make your way over here and get some first aid instructions," I ordered, once more leaning on [Eagle's Splendor] since I wasn't otherwise spending mana. "You, you, and you," I pointed out three people who weren't injured at all. "You're on minion duty for her. Do what she says and ask for help if you don't understand."
Not waiting to be question, I went to check on the pilots, taking a few moments to store the dead flight attendants' bodies in my [Inventory], offering no explanation to the people who questioned me except to approach me when we got back to safety and I would return them to their families.
The cockpit door was partly jammed, and wouldn't open properly. After a moment's struggle, I managed to peer inside, but the pilots were both very dead. It looked like they actually survived the initial crash, but the plane slid forward after hitting the ground, smashing into some of the sparse trees on the open plain, and the shattering windshield did them in. Damn. I stored their bodies in my [Inventory] as well, before stepping back out of the cockpit and kicking the door closed with a screech. I did a quick scan of the remaining passengers with [Observe], but I'd stabilized everyone who was dying, so frankly, everything else could be handled with first aid.
Heading back to my deputized nurse, I pinged [Detect Grimm], finding none within 200 meters, with a few circling outside of that. So far, they weren't coming closer, but I'd need to continue keeping people calm or we'd find ourselves overwhelmed in a hurry.
Pausing beside her, I squared my shoulders with one more pop of [Eagle's Splendor]. "Everyone, we're doing very well," I announced seriously. "You all survived the crash, and as long as I'm here nothing bad is going to happen. All we need to do is remain calm. As I said, the rescue flight is already en route. My sister is also a Huntress and is on her way ahead of it. We are going to make it!"
Scattered cheers broke out, and the resulting conversation seemed… calmer.
[Eagle's Splendor has increased by 1!]
No pressure on anyone but me. Whatever, it's for the best.
[By giving an inspiring speech, your CHA has increased by 1!]
Yeah, I'm never discounting CHA again.
"Time to get you back up and running," I told the nurse, carefully placing my hands on either side of her neck. Triggering [Lay On Hands] again, I reached out to the world and also tapped into [Gaia's Pulse]. The huge inrush of meditation-augmented regeneration jumped what I was channeling into her from about 15/sec to about 69/sec.
Nice.
Touching on the souls of everyone present with [Detect Aura] at the same time, I confirmed no one else seemed to be bleeding out or panicking. There was definitely some worry and sorrow, but I'd grabbed everyone's attention firmly enough that they were all taking their cues from me.
[Lay On Hands has increased by 1! Lay On Hands has increased by 1! Gaia's Pulse has increased by 1!]
I [Observe]d the nurse again. "Congratulations, you're now in perfect health."
[Observe has increased by 1!]
She stretched her neck carefully, then raised her hand and stared at her fingers. "I can't believe it…"
Giving her a moment to take it in, I pinged [Detect Grimm] again, and… Oh, that's not good.
Clapping her shoulder more forcefully, I brought her attention back to the present. "You're in charge of first aid," I reiterated. "Everyone, listen to her, and stay inside the plane." I moved unhurriedly, keeping my voice steady as I walked toward the door.
Stepping out and blinking in the sun, I signaled all the volunteers to head back inside as well.
"Everything all right?" asked the older woman who had my gun.
"Everyone's healed up who needed it," I replied. "I've got someone in charge of first aid; you're my other deputy, why don't you go help her keep order. I'll keep watch for our rescue party, so go ahead and close the door behind you."
She gave me a sharp look, then glanced around before heading inside with her son.
Yeah, don't think I fooled her for a second, but to hell with it. Striding out from the tail of the plane, I pulled the Family Sword free from the sheath and deployed the shield. Stopping about a hundred meters away, I swung lightly to loosen my shoulder. Not being able to flare my Aura like a normal Huntsman, I instead tapped [Gaia's Pulse] again, fairly certain that was what had drawn in the monster I was sensing with [Detect Grimm].
Sure enough, its motion shifted from heading for the plane to heading straight for me as it seemed to accept my challenge. The way dust rose on the open, grassy plain before it even came clearly into view, and how I could feel the tremor of its steps as it came my way… Yeah, I'm getting bad, bad vibes.
[Enlightened has increased by 1!]
Goody.
A moment later, the hulking shape of a quadrupedal Grimm stomped out of the dust cloud, and I squinted to take in as much information as I could through the heat haze. The good news was, it didn't seem to be armored as thickly as Krios. I could see tarlike flesh almost everywhere on its body except for the mask itself. The bad news was that there was a lot of that flesh on display, because this thing was much bigger than my last boss fight.
Krios had been able to look me in the eye; this thing stood almost ten feet tall at the shoulder, and was easily twice as long as the goat had been. Judging by the way I could feel each step it took rattle my teeth, I had to guess it weighed four or five times as much. Sweeping out from the mask were two massive horns, less curled than Krios', instead gently curving forward into two deadly points a few feet on either side of its head, ready to impale anyone who baited this bull. And just like its cousin, its red eyes glared with a mixture of fury and amusement as they fixed on me.
Me; the only thing standing between it and the civilians on the plane.
‹Wrath of the Scorned›
LV ?
Samiri
HP: [100%]
I swallowed through a dry throat and once more gave thanks for [Gamer's Mind] as my Semblance recognized the threat of the situation and the background music kicked into high gear.
I am now, an instrument of violence
I am a vessel of invincibility.
I cannot leave this undecided
Stepping down to battle another day.
Remember me for all time, this
Determination is a vital part of me;
Surrender now or be counted
With the endless masses that I will defeat!
[BGM Unlocked! – "Warrior" by Disturbed]
Meeting Samiri's gaze, I drew the tip of the Family Sword through the dirt in front of me, then pointed it straight at the boss for a moment before retaking a fighting stance. With the intelligence the last boss Grimm had shown, I figured this bull couldn't fail to take my meaning, and the way it snorted and pawed the ground bore that out.
My gauntlet thrown, I took the time to send one last text.
Aegislash - 'Seven Deadly Sisters (And One Baby Brother)' | Saturday, 15:55
‹Aegislash› (a)everyone guess whose plane crashed right next to another named grimm
Several people are typing...
‹Aegislash› can't talk
‹Aegislash› Zapdos hurry
The fight began fast and brutal, almost as soon as I turned my attention back to Samiri. As should be expected of a bull, it lowered its head and charged straight at me. Unlike the fight with Krios, I wasn't starting this one already exhausted and at 50% HP, so I crouched and used my new passive STR of 62 and DEX of 75 to leap straight over its charge, slamming my sword into its flank with everything I had in me.
Combined with [Crusader's Smite], I managed to knock off a whole percentage point of its HP before having to skip away from its rear legs as it tried to kick me.
I made some distance as it turned around, glancing at the timer to see how long I would have to hold out before Violet and rescue arrived. Ten more minutes. Cowabunga it is.
Fortunately, I'd gotten pretty good at doing math in my head to determine how long I could keep my buffs going. At 1357 max MP I could use all my buffs for about five minutes, but with ten minutes left on my timer to rescue, that was no good. The mental stats weren't that helpful in a fight, though, so sticking to buffing just my STR, CON, and DEX cost me a total of 130 for each minute, if I included [Reinforcement]. Those four buffs should last me for just longer than the countdown, assuming I didn't use any mana for anything else.
Which wouldn't be the case, because I was going to be casting [Crusader's Smite] every chance I got, but that was a problem for the Jaune of ten minutes from now. Casting my buffs, I switched my Title from [Initiate] to [Grimm Slayer] so I would deal more damage and take less. Then, rather than wait for Samiri to come at me again, I ran forward.
The bull snorted, tossing its head to try to impale me on its horns, and clearly expecting me to jump again. Its head was low so it could quickly jab upward and catch me in midair. Instead, I dropped into a slide and tried to stab it in the throat, the same way we'd killed Krios. My leverage wasn't perfect, though, and the Family Sword's point actually skidded off Samiri's tight, quivering muscles. Its throat was slit, but since Grimm didn't bleed, that wasn't actually a big deal.
It let out an unsurprisingly-wheezy bellow, and reared up to try to stomp on me, but my buffed DEX was well over 100 now, and I kipped up with seconds to spare, hammering its legs again.
‹Wrath of the Scorned›
LV ?
Samiri
HP: [95%]
"All that, complete with a 30% damage bonus from the title and 150% from the [Smites], and it still only knocked off five percent?" I growled. "Damn, this guy is a fuckin' unit."
Samiri, naturally, did not reply. Instead it pawed the ground, looking a little more wary.
Happy to stall for time, I smirked and started talking shit. "What's wrong, not as fun when someone puts up a real fight? You gonna just stand there until I find a red cape to wave?"
Its eyes narrowed, and steam blew from its nostrils, but it continued to just watch me.
"Your mask is going to look great mounted in my room, right next to Krios'," I boasted. "After I steal your aspect just like his. I wonder what bonus I'll get from yours?"
Tiring of the standoff, Samiri came at me again, though only at a canter this time. Which was still faster than I could sprint, so when I mistimed my dodge, I had to raise my shield to avoid being impaled. There was an echoing CLANG! and I was sent flying by even that reduced motion. I couldn't see its stats, of course, but its STR had to be insane. The shield held up, but I could feel a small dent pressing against my arm, and I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to collapse it back into a sheath until it got repaired.
My DEX and [Parkour] once again let me tumble back to my feet before Samiri could turn and reach me, and I slashed at its back leg again for another 2% of its HP. Slow and steady, we've got this.
The music shifted as the initial song ended, but I honestly couldn't spare the attention to figure out what song from my Boss Fight playlist came up next, because Samiri was on me again, this time jerking its head back and forth rapidly, forcing me to block its horns one after another. It wasn't running quickly anymore, but I had to keep backpedaling or be knocked off my feet again.
I was tempted to stab it in the eye as I had Krios, but I'd learned my lesson from that occasion, that I would end up losing my sword for it, and probably wouldn't get it back. Seeing as I didn't have Blake around to back me up this time, I couldn't afford to be disarmed, so instead I feinted for the mask and then slashed at its forelegs again. If I can cripple it, this is all over.
It wasn't that easy, however. While I was definitely faster than Samiri, it wasn't exactly slow itself, and unlike a video game boss, it didn't have attack patterns that I could learn and predict. Instead, it was learning just as much as me, and it was getting better at quick-stepping away from my attacks. While that took some of the pressure off me, it also meant dealing less damage to the Grimm. Its HP wasn't recovering, but I still hadn't gotten it below 90%.
"Just had to be a boss fight," I grumbled, trying a new feint toward its opposite leg. "Why not a nice relaxing dungeon crawl? Lots of popcorn Grimm to cut down for free money? Noooo, I have to fight a second Grimm so infamous it has a godsdamn Name. Fuck my life."
For all my bitching, however, this was… honestly not that bad. I was hesitant to even allow the thought to form, because I could easily see Murphy taking the opportunity to kick my teeth in, but it was true — Samiri wasn't really hurting me, and while my damage to it wasn't huge, I was slowly dropping its HP. Its attention was fully on me, and the crash survivors were safely inside the plane.
As we separated yet again, I glanced at my [Stats] page, but after Azure's experiments, there weren't any I could raise for a mid-fight boost like I had against Krios. I technically had the points to boost either INT or CHA over 50, but neither seemed likely to help in a primarily physical fight.
Okay, let's try something else, then. Reaching into my [Inventory], I pulled out one of the Dust crystals I'd received for killing Krios. I glanced at it to make sure it was the right one.
[Gale Dust Crystal – Grade V]
Skipping away from Samiri for a moment, I pressed the crystal to the blade of the Family Sword, and triggered a skill I hadn't been able to practice very much: [Elemental Weapon].
The crystal fragmented, and the blade of the Family Sword began to shimmer a faint green. It also appeared to waver, but that was due to the small tornado that now surrounded it, like a weaker version of Saber's Invisible Air. This wasn't strong enough to hide the sword — at least not while the skill was this low-leveled — but it was still a further 66% damage boost, plus the added effect of Gale dust: knockback.
Samiri wasted no time butting at me again with its mask, but this time I parried rather than block with my shield, and the force of the Gale jerked its head to the side. I shifted its other horn up over my head, and stabbed for its already-damaged neck. The massive Grimm actually staggered back a few steps as the whirling winds tore the pitch-colored muscle apart. Between [Grimm Slayer], [Elemental Weapon], [Crusader's Smite], and the passive [Powerful], I was dealing nearly 300% bonus damage even before the critical hit.
Samiri's HP dropped sharply for the first time, hovering around 65% as it backed off faster than it had moved yet. [Elemental Weapon] took that moment to wear off, so I let it go and seized the opportunity to glance at the timer. Five minutes to go.
The monstrous bull didn't spend long recovering. It huffed and wheezed, trying to bellow, but when that failed it simply stomped the ground hard enough to almost unbalance me before starting forward once more. Thank you yet again, boosted DEX.
I'd misjudged, however. Samiri lunged further than I was expecting, ramming my hastily-interposed shield with its skull rather than the horns, and once again sending me flying.
"No!" came a faint cry, followed by the familiar crack of a pistol. The bullet impacted Samiri's bulk, doing less than a percent damage, but pulling its attention away from me. In the space of a bare second, as I arced through the air, I took in the situation and realized what happened.
Over the course of the fight, we'd gotten turned around, so Samiri was now between me and the plane. This was fine when it was completely focused on me, but now the woman I'd lent my gun to was running out toward us. Skidding to a stop, she brought the .45 up in a solid triangular stance and started firing at the enormous Grimm.
What the fuck are you doing out here!? I rolled upright as fast as I could, but Samiri had already turned away from me, lowered its head, and charged directly at the woman. I sprinted after the bull, but it was too fast. I hadn't managed to damage its legs enough to cripple it, and despite my higher DEX, I couldn't catch up with Samiri once it got its bulk in motion.
To her credit, such as it was, the woman didn't panic or freeze up. She emptied the clip as the monster came at her, then tried to dive out of the way.
…'Tried' being the operative word.
The long horn of bone caught her mid-jump, and having no Aura to protect herself it went straight through her abdomen. I heard ribs shatter even from as far away as I was, and my gun crunched as Samiri's hoof planted down on it.
Idly shaking its head to toss the woman's body away, the bull turned enough to eye me and huffed through its ruined throat, its amusement plain. I gritted my teeth. If she wasn't dead, I could heal her… if I didn't also have to deal with this fucking monster. Even as I watched, her HP plummeted to zero, and the name over her head — a name I hadn't even properly registered since my attention was on healing earlier — vanished.
[Gamer's Mind] kept my thoughts clear, but my failure to protect the woman — my failure to perfectly uphold my oath — drove a cold rage through me. Fuck holding out, I'm going to kill this son of a bitch.
I attacked, no less cautiously but a lot more aggressively than before. Samiri still shrugged off most of my blows, but they were beginning to add up as its HP trickled down. But then, so was my MP; the number of times I was triggering [Crusader's Smite] was, as predicted, starting to bring my mana low enough that I wouldn't be able to stay buffed.
Gritting my teeth, I dropped [Bear's Endurance] to ration my remaining MP a little better, relying on my buffed DEX and the passive [Nimble] to stay ahead of attacks I couldn't catch with my shield. Instead, I spent that mana on another cast of [Elemental Weapon], this time grabbing the Burn crystal and causing the blade of the Family Sword to burst into flame.
I wanted this to hurt.
For the next few blows, I didn't bother aiming properly, just slamming the edge of the Family Sword into Samiri's masked face with all the power I could muster. Then, as I'd hoped, it opened its mouth to roar defiantly. Not only did that result in only another wheeze coming out of its ruined throat, but I pivoted the sword into a sideways stroke, severing laterally through its cheek muscles and leaving the lower jaw to dangle.
Samiri took an instinctive step back, and I was about to follow when the sky suddenly grew dark, and the background music abruptly shifted. Not the end of a song fading into another, but a hard switch mid-beat, going from the fullness of Nightwish to something a lot faster and more intense.
Into the fires of forever, we will fly through the heavens,
With the power of the universe we stand strong together~!
I know this song… That must mean…
"Time's up." A nasty smile stole across my face, and I think my shifting emotions were what caused Samiri to shift away from me again. We'd shuffled around again, my back to the plane once more, and with nearly half its HP gone I could see the bull debating retreat.
Not that it would have the chance, because with a blinding flash and a deafening KRACKA-BOOM! there was suddenly a third person present, standing on a slightly-smoking patch of dirt, the grass all burned away.
‹?›
LV ?
Violet Arc
With the sudden cloud cover, it would have been too dark to see much, if it weren't for the weapon in her hand that seemed to be glowing. The head of the morningstar gleamed with Dust ranging from yellow to cyan, and a complex mechanism near her hand showed it could mech-shift, like most modern weapons.
"Took you long enough," I said, stepping up beside her, idly twirling the flaming Family Sword and keeping my eyes fixed on the now-hesitant Grimm.
"Stand back, Jaune," Violet ordered. "I'll finish this."
"Like hell," I spat. "I watched this monster murder someone for trying to help me. The killing blow is mine."
Electric-blue eyes flicked my way, and a smile twitched her lips, but was soon replaced with a fierce scowl. "Fair enough. Don't get in my way," she warned, before she tightened her grip on her weapon's haft.
Seeming to recognize it was now outgunned, as well as outnumbered, Samiri tried to turn away, but Violet and I both lunged at the same time, our respective weapons hammering into its hind legs. The Family Sword sheared and burned through the right hind leg just above the knee joint, while Violet's morningstar smashed through the left with a simple backhanded swing.
Samiri let out another pathetic whistle, still trying to drag itself away, but unable to do more than slide a few inches. Taking my time, I unstrapped the dented and busted shield from my arm, storing it in my [Inventory], and then chose not to renew [Cat's Grace] so I could keep [Reinforcement] and [Bull's Strength] going for another minute. The latter seemed apopos, since I would be using the STR boost to finish off this giant bull.
Samiri spotted me approaching with one wild eye, and tried to smack me with the back of its horn, but I avoided it easily.
‹Wrath of the Scorned›
LV ?
Samiri
HP: [8%]
Knowing it could understand me, I didn't hold back the satisfaction in my voice as I growled, "Two down, ten to go."
Gripping the Family Sword with both hands, I put everything I had into a mighty downward stroke. Its neck was too large for me to cleanly decapitate with an arming sword, but I got most of the job done, and that final [Crusader's Smite] wiped out both the last of my MP and Samiri's HP.
Like Krios, it made no sound as it died, just stiffened unnaturally and began to vanish. I hopped back as it collapsed, stabbing the Family Sword into the ground as the flames around it winked out, and crouched down to lay a hand on the nearest horn. With a tug and a thought, the Mask separated from the dissolving Grimm, and I stowed it in my [Inventory] before looking at the blood on my gloved hand.
Blood that wasn't mine, but was unmistakably on my hands. Fuck.
I didn't weep. I didn't scream. I didn't solemnly vow to do better, because I'd already made that vow. I just… needed to acknowledge that I'd fucked up.
I hadn't violated my oath, really — there wasn't any negative feedback from the geas, because I'd tried to help and protect the passengers — but it still ate at me that a woman I'd tried to keep safe was dead because of me. If I'd taken the gun back when I sent her inside, would she have still come back out?
"You did your best." Blinking, I looked over at Violet, able to see her a little better now that the storm clouds overhead were clearing.
"Not gonna tell me it's not my fault?"
"Would you listen to that?" she asked rhetorically. "Look, could you have done better? Yeah, probably. But you just held off and helped kill a Named Grimm, saving a hundred people's lives. Not to mention whoever you healed before that. An accredited professional would be hard-pressed to do better than that, and you're not even trained. We aren't gods, Jaune; we just do the best we can."
I sighed. "Yeah." There wasn't anything else to say on that subject, so I let it drop. "Medevac almost here?" The timer was flashing 0:00 in the corner of my eye until I dismissed it, but I couldn't hear another engine over the lingering thunder.
"Should be just a couple minutes," Violet agreed, swinging her weapon up to rest on her shoulder. "They would have been along about now, if I hadn't been ahead of them." She jerked her head upwards.
Welcoming the distraction, I glanced up as well, seeing nothing but… "The clouds?"
"Yeah, that was me rushing to get here. But thunderheads are dangerous to fly through, so they're probably a few klicks back."
Finally getting enough MP back, I activated [Detect Grimm], but just like with Krios, killing the boss seemed to spook all the normal Grimm into backing off, and I couldn't sense any within 200 meters, and told Violet as much.
She just nodded. "Best to keep your guard up anyway," she advised, turning and heading toward the plane. "Come on, let's make sure everyone knows they're in the clear."
I picked up the Family Sword and followed her, detouring to pick up the body of the woman who'd tried to help, storing it in my [Inventory] with the others. I'll see what her family wants to do, like the rest.
We came to a stop outside the downed plane's emergency door, and Violet turned to look me over critically. "I haven't totally kept up on what your Semblance does, but can you clean yourself up at all?" she asked. "It's fine if you can't, but the more unruffled you look, the better."
I looked down. Aside from the blood on my gloves, my clothes were covered in dirt and grass stains from when I got flung around. Shrugging, I equipped a new set of Casual clothes, stowing my armor and conjuring up clean versions of my usual jeans, gold tee, and white shirt.
"Weird," was my sister's only comment, hanging her weapon on her belt. Lacking a sheath at the moment, I went ahead and dropped mine in my [Inventory], taking the time to look Violet over myself.
She looked almost completely unruffled, naturally. She was tall, like most of our family, standing even with me, although I suspected her boots added an inch. Her build was lean, closer to Sienna and Indigo than me or Olivia. Her Hunting outfit showed a clear punk influence, with a cropped and sleeveless shirt showing off both her biceps and abs, as well as a bunch of tattoos; a studded denim vest with her emblem — a purple thunderbolt — on the back, and wide-legged trousers belted at the waist, knee, calf, and ankle, both preventing the hanging cloth from interfering with her movements and providing plenty of straps where she had attached spare ammo, grenades, and other pouches of supplies.
Her hair, naturally a light blonde, looked fairly long but was pulled into a tight braid. One section of that braid was dyed purple, as was one of the two locks left free to frame her face. She also wore small gauges in her ears and a spiked choker that, upon closer inspection, I realized was studded with Dust crystals.
Violet was only 'almost completely' unruffled, though, because her left arm kind of… didn't exist, at the moment. Rather, it seemed to be made of tightly-compressed sparks in the approximate shape of an arm, emerging from the shoulder of her vest and continuing all the way down to vague fingers that seemed too long and spindly to function like a human hand.
Catching where I was looking, she glanced down herself and shrugged. "It's fine. This actually isn't the worst I've had for a trip of this length."
Taking her word for it, I nodded, and opened the door. The two minutes we'd spent walking and chatting gave me enough MP to recast [Eagle's Splendor], and I did so to give the greatest emphasis to my triumphant return.
"Righto~!" I called. "My sister's here, there's no Grimm around, and I can hear our ride, so grab your carry-ons and let's step outside in an orderly fashion, everybody. Don't worry about your luggage, we'll recover everything we can before we take off for Mistral."
Once again, there were scattered cheers, though I noticed some people seemed more subdued, and one who was outright glaring at me. After a moment, I placed him: He'd been sitting with the woman who died, and had been dragged outside to help her keep watch briefly. Her husband, the faunus man I'd healed earlier, was awake now and looking around with an expression somewhere between distraught and resigned. They remained seated as everyone else filed out following Violet, the man heaving himself upright and shuffling forward with his son's help.
"Young man, my wife…" he asked, sounding like he already suspected the answer.
I bowed my head. "She came back out to try to help, and I couldn't reach her in time," I replied softly. "What she did was incredibly brave, and–"
"Why didn't you heal her?" the son demanded.
"Russet," his father laid a hand on his shoulder, but Russet shook it off.
"You healed dad. You healed all those people, even that racist Atlesian asshole; why didn't you heal my mom when she got hurt because of you!?"
"Because the Grimm was still alive," I said, keeping my voice even. "My healing isn't that fast. By the time I finished the fight and got over to her, it was too late."
"It's your fault!" Russet swung a fist with no wind-up. I could have dodged it, but I didn't, simply tanking the 10 HP hit, his civilian strength barely causing me to rock back.
"Russet!" His father barked, but the teen shouldered past me without another word and went outside. "I'm sorry for him," the man said. "My Ginger was…"
"Incredibly brave," I repeated. "Your son isn't wrong. I was the one to hand Ginger a weapon and deputize her. Some of the blame does lie with me." I hesitated, but extended a hand. "It was an honor to know her, even briefly."
"Ginger was always one to volunteer," he said, voice surprisingly steady considering the tears streaming down his face. He shook my hand without hesitation. "Is… is her body…?"
"I collected her," I assured him. "Once we return to the Kingdom, you'll be able to retrieve her for… however she preferred to be laid to rest."
He thanked me, voice thick, and made his careful way outside to find his son. I slumped against the wall of the empty fuselage for a moment, and Violet thankfully wasn't around to try to reassure me a second time. Once a minute had ticked over, I mentally boxed up all my sorrow and regret to deal with later, squared my shoulders, and made my way to the cargo compartment, where I systematically stowed every piece of luggage in my [Inventory] no matter how damaged they appeared. We'll sort this out back in town.
Getting everyone onto the medivac was only a hassle in terms of time. The return to Mistral was longer than they'd taken to arrive, since the new plane was much more weighed-down, but [Lay On Hands] saved a bunch of supplies, and I mostly just went to whoever the medics told me to heal.
Unpacking the bodies into bags for the coroner, healing anyone who was still injured, answering questions and putting on a grin and a bit of a show for the younger ones… I basically tuned out, mentally, and just went through the motions. A few of the older passengers seemed to recognize it, as did the medics and Violet herself, but nobody called me out.
Finally, we landed at a hospital, and a few inquiries found somewhere I could drop off everyone's bags. The nurse who'd shown me there stared with wide eyes. "I thought you were a healer; how did you store all that?"
Exhausted by this point, I just said, "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," before turning and leaving. Probably not my best impression, but to hell with it; it's not like I live here.
Violet steered me into a cab outside the hospital. Seeming to grasp that I didn't want to talk, she left me to my own devices, and I started slowly going through the alerts my Semblance had generated, which I'd ignored thanks to the emergency situation. A few skill- and stat-ups had come through, at least before combat started, but there were larger windows I hadn't bothered to look at even before Samiri's appearance.
[Quest Alert!]
[Sabotage!]
[Your plane ride to Mistral was sabotaged by Arthur Watts, in retaliation for getting him arrested and fired. His vengeance was both swift and cunning, setting a delayed shutdown for your flight to activate as soon as it reached Mistral's CCT. Try to keep everyone safe and calm, to prevent more Grimm from being attracted to the crash.]
[Bonus Objective: Make sure everyone who survived the crash continues to survive until rescue arrives.]
[Time limit: Until rescue parties arrive.]
[Reward: 10,000 EXP, increased reputation with Flight 1387 Survivors, greatly decreased reputation with Arthur Watts, decreased reputation with Salem's Inner Circle.]
And then:
[Story Event!]
[Boss Fight: Samiri the Marathonian]
[Victory: 100,000 EXP, 100,000L, new Dust crystal types, [Taking Names] quest continuation and reward, greatly increased reputation with surviving Flight 1387 passengers, increased reputation with Mistral, increased reputation with Atlas.]
[Loss: Probable death, deaths of all Flight 1387 passengers.]
Yeah, yeah…
[Story Event Complete!]
[You have defeated the boss monster Samiri!]
[You have gained 115,000 EXP and 100,000L! You obtained the Mask of Samiri! You found a Grade V Hydro Dust Crystal! You found a Grade V Geo Dust Crystal! You found a Grade V Geo Dust Crystal! You found a Grade V Gravity Dust Crystal! Increased closeness with Violet Arc. Greatly increased reputation with Flight 1387 survivors. Increased reputation with Mistral. Increased reputation with Atlas.]
[Level up! Your level has increased by 1! Your level has increased by 1! Your level has increased by 1! Your level has increased by 1! Your level has increased by 1!]
[By pushing your body past its limits, you have increased your physical abilities! Your DEX has increased by 1! Your DEX has increased by 1! Your DEX has increased by 1! Your STR has increased by 1!]
[By calculating the best plan, and executing it despite adversity, you have increased your mental abilities. Your INT has increased by 1! Your WIS has increased by 1! Your CHA has increased by 1! Your INT has increased by 1! Your CHA has increased by 1!]
[Crusader's Smite has increased by 1! Bull's Strength has increased by 1! Bear's Endurance has increased by 1! Cat's Grace has increased by 1! Reinforcement has increased by 1! Sword Mastery has increased by 1! Shield Mastery has increased by 1! Shield Mastery has increased by 1! Bull's Strength has increased by 1! Bear's Endurance has increased by 1! Cat's Grace has increased by 1! Reinforcement has increased by 1! Elemental Weapon has increased by 1! Sword Mastery has increased by 1! Crusader's Smite has increased by 1! Shield Mastery has increased by 1! Elemental Weapon has increased by 1! Dust Mastery has increased by 1! Crusader's Smite has increased by 1! Sword Mastery has increased by 1! Bull's Strength has increased by 1! Cat's Grace has increased by 1! Reinforcement has increased by 1! Sword Mastery has increased by 1! Crusader's Smite has increased by 1!]
Yep, boss fights still doing fucking work for my skills. Hell, I'm level 29 now. Blew straight past Beacon Freshman territory. Woo.
Hopefully I'd feel more excited about it after I finally got some sleep.
[BGM Unlocked! Fight Song: Violet Arc – "Fury of the Storm" by Dragonforce]
Oh, yeah, that too. I momentarily wondered how many songs — especially ones I really liked — were just missing from my playlists. I hadn't noticed most of the absences, but then, I had a lot less time to pay attention to music on Remnant than I'd had on Earth.
[Quest Updated!]
[Taking Names]
[You have learned that there are some Grimm so ancient and powerful, that they have individual names. Find and slay all the Name-ranked Grimm.]
[Time limit: Until Completed.]
[Reward: EXP, Lien, and items from each kill; glory and notoriety, reward from Rewards Table with each kill.]
[Failure Penalty: Probable death; uncounted thousands die as Grimm continue to rampage unchecked.]
[Targets:]
[Krios the Amalthean]
[Samiri the Marathonian]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[Rewards Table:]
[Yellow Death curse status reduction, [Grimm Slayer] title]
[Aura skill unlocked]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[You have taken your second step on the path toward glory! You have unlocked the skill [Aura]!]
[Aura (Passive/Active) LV 1 EXP: 0.00%]
[The Manifestation of one's soul, bearing one's burdens and shielding one's heart. Long ago, Mortals, who were born from dust, learned to wield the Light of their being against the soulless Grimm. It is this power which allowed Mortals to reach past their limits and drive back the darkness, for a time.]
[Passively increases STR by 10%.]
[Passively increases DEX by 10%.]
[Passively increases CON by 10%.]
[Passively increases INT by 10%.]
[Passively increases WIS by 10%.]
[Passively increases CHA by 10%.]
[ACTIVE: Allows use of MP as a shield, losing MP in place of HP when taking damage. Taking more than 1% MP in a single hit will shatter the Aura shield. If shattered, cannot be reactivated for 100 seconds.]
[Increases HP regeneration by current MP regeneration when active. Disables MP regeneration while active.]
[Doubles bonus to STR, CON, DEX, and CHA.]
So I can spike my own HP regen this way, but MP won't come back at all… I wonder how that figures into Lay On Hands? I guess I'd heal physical issues better, but not restore Aura? That's fine for civilians; probably make healing them a lot faster, actually.
Anyway, it's about fucking time. Now I could finally stop feeling like a fake, even if I was stronger and more skilled than I'd ever been on Earth. Aura was kind of a big part of being a Huntsman, even if I could fight on their level; more importantly, it would stop people asking awkward questions about my Semblance. Honestly wondered if I was going to have to wait even longer than canon for this.
After a moment's thought, something else occurred to me: …How the fuck do I level this up? It doesn't have an active mana cost. Do I only gain EXP for blocking damage with it? That's… actually going to be kind of hard, especially with the cooldown. One percent of my MP was a bit over 150 damage, and even Creeps and Beowolves regularly dealt more than that in a single blow. I'm gonna have to grind this until school starts. Maybe more than anything else. Hopefully that shatter percentage is one of the things that increases with level. If it doesn't, I may not be able to rely on the MP shield at all, because I can't really switch to an INT build at this point.
Shaking off the analysis paralysis, I moved on to the next set of alerts.
[Quest Complete!]
[Sabotage!]
[You have gained 11,500 EXP. Increased closeness with Flight 1387 passengers.
[Bonus Objective: Failed. Ginger Nash deceased.]
[Bonus Failure Penalty: Greatly decreased closeness with Russet Nash. Russet Nash is now an Enemy.]
[Secret Objective complete: Heal and recruit Heather Calluna.]
[You have gained an extra 5750 EXP. Heather Calluna is now an Ally. Nursing Assistant Job unlocked.]
[Level up! Your level has increased by 1!]
[Your persuasive speech caused your CHA to increase by 1!]
[Eagle's Splendor has increased by 1! Lay On Hands has increased by 1!]
Nash… So that was their name. Her name. I closed my eyes once more and engraved her face on my memory. Ginger Nash. I think you would have approved of my oath. However briefly, it was an honor to know you.
I won't forget you.
Name: Jaune Arc
Level: 29 (Next: 26.96%)
Title: Grimm Slayer
Race: Human
Age: 17
Job: Tyro Huntsman
Class: Paladin
Semblance: The Gamer
HP: 2230/2230
MP: 1708/1708
STR: 63.4 (52)
CON: 63.0 (50)
DEX: 79.5 (53)
INT: 47.2 (41)
WIS: 60.8 (52)
CHA: 49.8 (33)
Points: 78
Money: 143698L
Status: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]
A/N: To be clearer, the 'reassessment' of Jaune's mindset is more about making his thought processes more explicit — a lot of comments have been made (some sexist, some otherwise) about how Jaune talks a big game about making his own choices and then incongruously just goes along with whatever any of his sisters suggests. This makes sense in my head, because he's weighing up the pros and cons of digging in his heels and deciding that he has more to gain than to lose by just going with the flow. But since that's not happening 'on screen', it makes him look both passive and full of it.
